Even with Talia's short sword pressed lethally against his throat, Sera had no intention of waiting for the enemy to speak or recover!
The vampire girl dashed through the dust and fog, swinging her giant scythe in a relentless, brutal combo aimed at crushing the Dark Knight to pieces!
"Haaaah!!"
The Dark Knight gritted his teeth in pure rage. Knowing he was cornered, he burned a massive amount of mana. [Dark Repulsion]! A shockwave of dense, dark energy exploded outward in a 360-degree blast. The sheer force of the air pressure sent both Talia and Sera flying backward in opposite directions.
While Sera was momentarily suspended in mid-air, the Dark Knight swung his greatsword, unleashing a crescent-shaped wave of black energy that struck her directly in the shoulder!
SLASH!!
"Ugh!" Sera hit the ground hard, gritting her fangs. The deep gash on her shoulder was infected with a dark, crawling aura. The [Curse of Anti-Heal] took effect instantly. Unlike her usual wounds, this one refused to knit back together. Bright red blood poured out endlessly—the exact same horrific state Azul had been in.
"Tch! An anti-heal debuff?!"
Instead of panicking, Sera smirked. A true vampire would never let spilled blood go to waste. She instantly activated her blood manipulation, forcing the droplets gushing from her own wound to halt in mid-air. The blood condensed, twisted, and hardened into a razor-sharp 'Blood Spear'. With a flick of her wrist, she fired her own blood back at the Dark Knight like a cannonball!
In that exact fraction of a second, Talia, having landed gracefully on her feet, flicked her wrist. She threw her short sword, coated in an assassin's aura, slicing through the air from the opposite direction to catch the enemy in a deadly pincer attack!
The Dark Knight's eyes widened. He had less than a heartbeat to decide. Judging the Blood Spear to possess a higher destructive yield, he ripped his greatsword upward to parry the crimson projectile with all his might.
CLANG!! The Blood Spear was deflected... but it left his back wide open.
STAB!! Talia's short sword pierced through his heavy armor, burying itself deep into his spine! The Dark Knight let out a guttural roar of pain.
The tension was suffocating. The stealth ambush, the domain expansion, the destruction of the cabin, and this frantic exchange of lethal damage... only two minutes had passed! This was the terrifying speed and scale of top-tier Level 100 players.
Neither girl gave him a moment to breathe. They dashed in for the kill!
CLANG! SLASH! CLANG!
While the Dark Knight possessed devastating attack power and thick armor, his class made him inherently slow. Facing a speed-oriented vampire weaving in and out of the shadows, combined with an assassin targeting his vital spots, he was reduced to a punching bag. Talia and Sera synergized perfectly, taking turns striking from his blind spots and pouring on the damage.
In this reality, they could no longer see a floating HP bar above the enemy's head like they did on their monitors. But they didn't need to. Through sheer gamer instinct, analyzing the damage they had dealt, his gruesome wounds, and his significantly slowed reaction time... they knew he was on his last legs.
"Boss! He's definitely in the threshold!" Sera shouted, hooking her scythe around his ankle to break his posture.
"This is where you end, trash."
Talia declared coldly. Her sharp eyes, free of her usual glasses, glinted with a ruthless red light. The Assassin's ultimate execution skill was triggered.
[Execution] Skill Condition: If the target's HP falls below a certain threshold, this attack ignores all defense and guarantees a 100% Instant Kill. Talia's figure vanished, becoming nothing more than a black streak slicing through the air, phasing right through the stumbling Dark Knight in a fraction of a second.
SHIIIING—!!!!!
At that exact moment, Finn, Elin, Bryn, and the rest of the guild broke through the treeline and the dissipating fog, arriving at the scene.
The first thing the 18 Undercovers saw was Talia standing with her back turned, calmly flicking the blood off her blades... while the hooded head of the psychotic Dark Knight detached from its shoulders, hovering in the air for a split second before a fountain of black blood erupted toward the sky.
The hunt was flawlessly executed.
The hooded head hit the dirt with a dull thud, followed by the headless corpse collapsing into a growing pool of blood.
Silence blanketed the forest, broken only by the heavy panting of Sera and Talia amidst the splintered ruins of the cabin.
"Sera! Boss!"
Mila, Elin, and the others rushed forward through the clearing. Seeing the blood soaking Sera's maid outfit, Mila immediately sprinted to the vampire's side. Golden light glowed from the chef's hands as she cast a high-tier healing spell on Sera's shoulder.
Because the caster of the curse was dead, the dark aura preventing the healing dissipated. Sera's muscles and tissue rapidly stitched back together, fully healing in seconds.
"I'm fine, Mila... thanks," Sera sighed, her bat wings dissolving back into her skin.
Meanwhile, Silas walked up to the headless corpse, his eyes practically glowing with greed. "Oh man... a Level 100 Player corpse? This is premium material!"
The young Necromancer didn't hesitate. He looted the body entirely. The drops included the enemy's heavy black armor, the massive greatsword, and several high-tier stat-boosting accessories.
Once the loot was secured, Silas used his class skill to absorb the headless corpse into his necromancy inventory, saving it to summon as a High-Tier Undead later. The accessories would be given to Azul later to boost his base stats, while the dark armor and greatsword were already earmarked for Lars, the blacksmith, to melt down and reforge into a custom weapon and armor set for the newborn vampire.
Talia sheathed her weapons, ignoring the loot entirely. Her sharp gaze swept over the pulverized remains of the cabin.
"Finn, Bryn... clear out that debris," Talia ordered. "There has to be an entrance to a basement hidden around here."
The guild quickly moved the wreckage aside, and soon enough, they uncovered a heavy iron-reinforced wooden trapdoor embedded in the ground.
When Dane pried it open, a damp, musty smell mixed with the faint, sickening metallic scent of blood hit their noses. Several members instinctively covered their faces. Dane lit a magical torch and led the way down the narrow stone steps into the pitch-black cellar.
However... as the torchlight illuminated the scene below, all movement stopped. The atmosphere grew impossibly heavy and bone-chillingly cold.
There were no survivors.
In the damp, filthy underground cell lay the lifeless bodies of four or five village girls. Their clothes were torn to shreds, and their bodies were covered in bruises, deep wounds, and the horrific signs of torture far beyond what any human should endure. Their faces were frozen in expressions of absolute terror, stained with dried tears and final, agonizing despair.
The 18 players are standing frozen. The sight before them was a sledgehammer shattering any remaining illusions they had. This was not a game anymore. It was a real world where people bled, suffered, and died permanently.
Step... Step...
Heavy footsteps echoed from behind. Azul, the newborn vampire who had followed the backup team, pushed his way to the front of the iron bars.
His dull eyes widened. His already freezing body began to tremble violently, completely out of his control. He dropped to his knees in front of the smallest girl in the corner... her neck was bent at a sickening angle, and the torn fabric Azul had clung to in his dying moments matched the missing piece of her dress perfectly.
"No... No..."
Azul didn't cry. His undead body no longer possessed tears to shed. But the ragged, broken, voiceless roar that ripped from his throat was far more agonizing than any weeping. It was the sound of a soul completely shattering.
Elin looked away, burying her face in Bryn's shoulder, unable to bear the tragic sight. Mila bit her lip, kneeling beside Azul and gently placing a hand on his trembling shoulder—the only comfort she could offer.
There were no grand speeches. Talia didn't offer a philosophical monologue about the cruelty of the world.
There was only a suffocating, absolute silence.
After a long moment, Silas stepped forward. His usual playful demeanor was entirely gone, replaced by the solemn pragmatism of a Necromancer.
"I will prepare a proper, peaceful burial for his sister," Silas said quietly, looking at Talia and the others. "But... I request to take the other bodies. Human corpses are a rare and difficult resource to find without causing suspicion. I can give them a new purpose."
The guild silently agreed. In a world this cruel, nothing could be wasted.
Azul slowly stood up. He didn't say a word, but as he turned to look at the towering players of the 18 Undercovers, a dark, burning fire ignited in his lifeless eyes. He walked over to Silas and Talia, bowing his head deeply.
He communicated a single, desperate desire through his silent gaze. He needed to train. He needed to be pushed to the absolute brink. He had to become stronger—strong enough to survive, strong enough to rip apart any player who ever dared to prey on the weak again.
The long, grueling nightmare of his training was about to begin.